Forsyth County seeks resident input on updated transportation plan

Forsyth County is asking residents to help steer the next round of transportation priorities before the list hardens into funding decisions. The updated Comprehensive Transportation Plan will shape where money goes for road widening, sidewalks, turn lanes, intersections and corridor improvements, with direct effects on commute times, school drop-off lines and access to shopping and jobs.

The county says the first round of community engagement will focus on the draft vision and goals for the plan, along with identifying transportation needs and opportunities across Forsyth County. That matters in a county where the population rose from 251,283 in the 2020 Census to an estimated 282,805 on July 1, 2025, and where the median travel time to work was 30.6 minutes in the Census Bureau’s 2019-2023 data. As more subdivisions, schools, retail centers and job corridors push traffic onto the same roads, the plan will help decide which improvements move first when funding is limited.

Forsyth County adopted the 2024 Comprehensive Transportation Plan on Aug. 1, 2024, and says the document is updated every five to six years. County materials describe it as the fourth Comprehensive Transportation Plan and a blueprint for countywide transportation development over a 30-year period, covering Forsyth County and the City of Cumming. The plan also evaluates how the county will grow over the next 20 years with respect to the transportation system and is meant to guide capital investments, improve traffic flow and safety, and provide multimodal options.

The transportation update is running alongside the county’s Local Road Safety Plan, which treats the CTP 2024 update as a parallel and complementary effort. That safety plan is aimed at reducing fatal and suspected serious-injury crashes while improving reliability across the transportation network for all users. For residents, the practical result is not just a bigger road map, but a chance to press for the kinds of projects that can make neighborhood entrances safer, shorten school traffic backups and keep daily routes working as the county grows.

County outreach in late 2023 for the previous transportation plan included an online survey, six open houses and 12 information booths around the county. Officials are again using public engagement to identify the roads and connections that matter most in everyday life, a process that can influence whether future projects lean toward widening, preservation, traffic calming or new sidewalks. In Forsyth County, transportation planning remains one of the clearest places where growth policy turns into something drivers, walkers and parents can feel every morning.